Il Belgium ends up in the crosshairs of Brussels, understood not as its capital, but as the seat of the European Union. There Commission, as the EU antitrust authority, has opened an in-depth investigation into the tax agreements under which the country grants some multinationals an extremely favorable corporate tax regime, to which other national companies do not have access. This was announced at a press conference today in Brussels by the EU Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager.
Il tax regime under investigation concerns the "excess profits" that companies claim to derive solely on the basis of the advantages deriving from being part of a multinational group. These are advantages that other companies, established only in Belgium, cannot claim, and which therefore constitute a possible discriminatory treatment.
The deductions in question are very significant, since they can be applied to a quota ranging from 50 to 90% of the "excess profits" declared. And the Commission also suspects in many cases these profits have been inflated.
The EU antitrust also argues that this system is not justified by the need to avoid double taxation (in Belgium and in the other countries in which companies carry on their business), because the tax deductions applied "do not constitute a reaction to the will of others country to tax the same profits”.
The Commission also notes that these tax agreements are often signed with companies "which have relocated to Belgium a considerable part of their activities or which have made significant investments in the country".
